Layers Upon Layers
by GypsyTimeLady5147
Summary: How well do you know the person you love? What would you do if that person's past rears its ugly head and you learn that they aren't as perfect as they appeared? How far would you go to learn the truth? To find them again? OC/OC Slight AU, might go more AU as I write. Rated M for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I DON'T OWN MASS EFFECT. JUST MY OWN CHARACTERS.**

**Yes, I know that this is another ME fanfic. I'm the kind of writer who likes to have several going in case I get stuck on one. That way I can go to another and not get permanently stuck on writer's block. Hope you understand.**

**Anyway, this is my first attempt at a mystery, so I hope I do a decent job! Please, please, PLEASE read and review! **

**Also, thank you to Lady Amiee and Bronzedamazon for giving me inspiration to create a drell character! I wouldn't have had the guts if you guys hadn't played drells Aria's Afterlife!**

**And a big, big, BIG thank you to Chopped Bread for helping me edit this! It was a disaster for a while! Thanks so much. **

CHAPTER ONE

"We're looking for Nadyr Tileas."

The unfamiliar, two-toned voice brought me out of a light doze. I knew a few people with that kind of voice, but not that one. It was a turian. They had more of a...feral purr in their voices than drell. More like predators. Always put me on edge. Why would a turian be looking for Nadyr?

Kalia, the receptionist, snorted and I could almost see her rolling her eyes at him. She was a pain in the but most of the time and it would take a special danger to get her to back down. "Just because you guys have armor and guns doesn't mean I let you see any of the patients. _If_ this Tileas is even here."

That brought me to my feet. Kalia wouldn't have mentioned 'armor' and 'guns' on a whim. Guys with guns wanting to see Nadyr? I clenched my jaw. Not on my watch. The hallway wasn't long. Only half a dozen rooms with patients and four of them in use. It wouldn't take long for them to look through the clear doors and find us. Standing from my chair, I withdrew inside the room and locked the door. It would slow them down, perhaps.

When I turned, my breath caught in my throat again. Although I knew he was going to be fine, I would never get used to seeing my Nadyr lying on a gurney and hooked up to a machine. He was always the stronger one. It wasn't right seeing him like that. Not that I'd tell him that I worried so much. That would only make _him_ worry and that was the last thing I wanted him to do.

An urge to touch him overcame me. No, not an urge. A need. I'd been standing guard outside for most of the day. I hated being separated from him for so long, even if it was just by a simple door. With a quiet sigh, I crossed the short distance between longme and the gurney. Surrounded by the pale, unforgiving sheets and sterile clothes the hospital had put him in, Nadyr looked vulnerable. And he was never vulnerable. It raised a certain protectiveness inside me that I thought he would be proud of. Or annoyed with.

I brushed my fingertips down the side of his face. Very gently so I wouldn't wake him. The warmth of his near-black scales was reassurance enough. There wasn't a fever anymore. The doctors had told me that, but it was still nice to know for myself. His soft breath warmed my hand. The quiet, little breaths I'd grown used to at night. My thumb brushed the thin scar that ran down his face to his chin. Something I'd found calmed him even in sleep.

I just hoped that he'd stay asleep until the turian and his friend went away.

"Excuse me, but you're not allowed back there!" Kalia's voice had risen several notches. Thanks to the special materials in the door and walls, it was like a muffled voice, but it must have been a yell. "If you don't stop and turn around right now, I'm calling C-Sec!"

Brushing his scar yet again, I turned around to look outside. Two turians were looking into each room. Thankfully, they were at the other end of the hallway. With a scowl, I glanced at them and tried to memorize as many specific details about them as possible. Just like Nadyr taught me.

One turian, the tallest, was a steel-gray color. Too far away to make sense of his facial markings. If he had any. His armor didn't look like anything I'd seen before, so he had to have had it modified. Perhaps he did it himself?

The other turian was only a few inches shorter than the gray one and had ebony plates with stark-white facial marks. So easy to see even at the distance they were at. His armor seemed newer and didn't look quite as personalized. So maybe he was younger? Or at least not as experienced?

"Hello? Did you hear me?" Kalia glared at the pair with her hands on her hips, but her usual intimidating stature didn't have any effect.

They were four doors away from me now.

"Fine, I'm calling C-Sec and suing your a**** for all you're worth!" The asari's eyes flickered to mine for the briefest of seconds before she stormed off to her desk. Definately going to follow up on her threat, if I knew her well enough.

Three doors. Close enough for the turians' conversation to be audible.

"Nothing. Are you sure this is the right place? That d***** drell could be anywhere." That was the dark-plated turian. I was no expert on turian voices, but he sounded in his thirties, if he'd been human.

The silver turian stalked over to a room across the way. Almost stormed. Like he held a temper that he was barely keeping in check. "He's here. Keep looking." My hands clenched into fists at the sound of his voice, muffled as it was. If there was going to be a fight, I'd bet every last credit I had that he'd start it. Even enjoy it.

"And if C-Sec turns up before we do?" The dark-plated turian seemed reasonable, but he was always waiting for the other to make the first move. Taking up a flanking position as they searched. Looked at the other just as many times as he was looking inside the rooms. He wasn't the one in charge, then.

"Then we keep on looking."

I took a step away from the door. My biotics stuttered and sparked along my lower arms as adrenaline surged through me. They were only a couple doors away. Who would see me first? More importantly, why were they after _my_ Nadyr?

It was the ebony turian who stopped in front of our room first. He froze, mandibles flaring in an expression I wasn't familiar with. Those dark eyes flickered from the biotics over my arms to Nadyr on the bed. Back again. And again. His brow plates pulled together in what I thought was a frown. He wasn't calling his friend over yet.

Biting my lip, I stared at the turian. Silently begging him to just leave us alone. We weren't hurting anybody. We weren't a danger. Not to him. Not to his friend.

His mandibles flared again. "Over here. He's not alone, though." The door's materials made it hard to tell what was going on with his voice. Though his brow plates came into what I thought was a deeper frown.

I said nothing as the other one joined him. I'd never had to deal with two dangerous people at once, let alone two turians. My mouth was drying out the longer they stared at me. Breath came faster as the adrenaline refused to die out. Okay, I was scared. Very scared. But I'd do anything to keep them from hurting Nadyr.

"Who are you?" Growled the silver turian.

Grinding my teeth, I debated on my answer. Truth or lie? Nadyr's training only went so far. Inhaling slowly, I tried to calm down enough to think clearly. "I would ask you the same thing. What do you want?" My voice was nowhere's near as calm as His would've been, but I was proud of myself regardless.

His growl came through the muffling walls as clear and grating as ever. He started to pull out his sidearm. "We've come for the drell, human. Let us in and get out of our way."

I glared back at him. "No."

The ebony turian placed a hand on the arm with the weapon. He said something in a low voice that I couldn't catch with my stupid human hearing. If I had something that could pick up subvocals, I might have been able to get a gist of what was going on, but I could barely tell if his mouth was moving at all.

The silver's annoyed snarl scraped over my raw nerves like nails on a chalkboard. He shoved the other one to the side before turning his icy blue glare on me. "This is your one chance, human. Give us the drell and you _might_ walk out of this in one piece."

My biotics flared, covering my arms all the way up to my neck. A tingling fire that flowed through my veins like a drug. "Try it, mister." Maybe, if I stalled him enough, C-Sec would show up and take them far away.

Two sets of eyes were drawn to something behind me moments before a hand rested on my shoulder. Gentle, but firm. "Calm down, Beck. There is nothing to worry about." Although Nadyr's voice sent shivers along my skin, it was almost as flat as mine. That usually meant that there was every reason to worry.

Completely ignoring the turians, I turned to face him, my biotics slowly calming down until they were barely flickering around my fists. "Are you sure, Boss?" The old name felt wrong coming from my lips again. I hadn't used it in, well, in over a year. He'd called me Beck, though. A nickname he'd refused to call me ever since we met. He was playing safe, then. I could play safe, too. I let my eyes flick down to where his other hand was pressed against his side. The turians might not have seen it, but I sure did.

He nodded to both of my questions and squeezed my shoulder. A little harder than necessary. It actually hurt a little. The message was clear. He didn't want me to try anything. Didn't want me to defend him. "Yes. Let them in."

"They have no right..."

"They are Specters." Now some flavor did enter his voice. A harder edge like a razor knife. A part of his subvocals he didn't mind them hearing. "If they wish to speak to me, then I will oblige them. Let them in..." I could almost see his throat constrict around what he'd been about to say. "Please," he finished, but I knew that it wasn't the word he'd been going to use.

I bit my lip. My fingers twitched with my need to touch him for reassurance. That would be a bad move, I knew. It would give the Specters something to use against him if they weren't on a friendly visit. _Specters...what in blazes do two Specters want with us?_ I nodded, though. Playing along but still making it clear that I wasn't happy.

Turning around with a mostly straight face, I keyed the door's combination. The Specters were taller than me by head and shoulders. "Don't try anything," I warned, but I wasn't sure that my tone was convincing enough. Not to two hardened soldiers. The silver turian growled and shoved past me, almost knocking me into the wall. My biotics flared again, but I clamped down on them. It would be messy, to say the least, if I used them with all four of us in one confined space. Besides, Nadyr had asked me not to.

"You're a hard frog to find, Tileas." Growled the silver turian, marching up till he was only an inch from Nadyr's face. "Do you have any idea what I had to go through to get this close?"

"I have an idea," Came Nadyr's cool response. I saw his eyes dance over every inch of the turian in front of him. It was a technique he'd been trying to teach me. Finding his weakness in case of a fight. "I made it difficult on purpose. You were not supposed to find me."

He seemed to have the big turian covered, so I focused mostly on the other one, who stood smack dab in the center of the door. He was still studying me like he couldn't figure me out. At least, that's what I interpreted his perpetual scowl to be. Catching me staring at him, he tilted his head in a bird-like way. Yes, definately studying me. I glared right back at him.

Silver's rumblings grew louder. "Where is it? Where's the OSD? You have it, don't bother lying to me. Where the h*** is it?" He loomed over Nadyr, even taller than him.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Nadyr maintained a straight face that made me jealous. "I do not have it any more. I am no longer involved with that line of work. Your information is out of date." Once more his voice went flat. I doubted that it even had any subvocal context to it.

"I'm never wrong, Tileas. My contacts said you haven't gotten rid of it, so where...did...you...put...it?"

"Your intimidation attempts will not work, Arterius, because I do not have it." Nadyr tilted his head at the turian, but made no other movement. A statue would've moved more than he did. He didn't even glance at me. Which was had to have been hard. That was how we worked. How we reassured each other.

The turian, Arterius, stilled, his growl taking on a tone that I didn't like. My hands clenched again. Blue biotics creeping up to my elbows. His friend's hand drifted towards his own side-arm. A mute warning. One that I was plenty ready to ignore if I had to. No one threatened us.

"Are you sure about that, Tileas?"

"Yes." The answer came readily and without hesitation.

"Then you'd understand if I have to get rid of all witnesses." Faster than I thought possible, Arterious whipped around, his hand flying up to grasp my neck in a vice-like grip. Pain exploded in my head as he slammed me into the wall. His hand tightened, cutting off almost all my air.

_S***!_ Somehow, between fighting to breathe and the near-panic that was growing inside me, I managed to bring my fists up for a couple of biotic punches. Pathetic ones. I could barely see the turian's face in front of me. They barely phased him, but they did make him tighten his grip even more until I could barely see anything. My lungs burned.

_"When fighting for air, Rebecca, do not fight for it. Lay still and wait for the air you need. Be patient. Wait."_

The echo of Nadyr's lesson a week ago pierced the near-panic I was in. Patience. I had to wait. He'd never been wrong about fighting before. With an effort stilled as much as I could. Though my hands flew to the one around my neck out of instinct, trying to gain some more air.

Arterius chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Your...bodyguard learns fast, Tileas." He turned his head and spat on the ground, never relieving the pressure. Giving me just enough air to stay concious, but only just. "Too fast. More than just the average mercenary training. Some...personal training sessions?"

"Saren." For the first time since they'd come inside, the other turian spoke up. "He doesn't have the OSD."

For a while, Arterius...Saren...didn't say anything. "What?" There was the sharpest note of reluctance in his voice.

"One of our leads just reported in. There was a transfer of funds in his account over two months ago. He doesn't have it."

"Do you see, Arterius?" Came Nadyr's voice, sounding farther away than I knew it should be, as steady as ever. How could it be steady? Did he even care? "You act before thinking. If I still had posession of the OSD, I would have made it more difficult for you to find me. There is no reason for you to remain here unless the Council wants to risk an incident with C-Sec again."

Saren's hand clenched even more. The world around me went gray and my ears rang. My hands tugged weakly at the one around my throat. I couldn't hear anything, couldn't think. Saren said something and so did the other turian. Just when I was going to pass out, the pressure vanished.

I collapsed onto the floor, sucking in big greedy gulps of air in between harsh coughing. I shook my head, desperate to see what was going on. Doing so nearly made me black out, though. There was a thud and a muffled grunt. _Get it together, Becca. Gotta get up._ It took several seconds for my vision to clear and for my gasping to come to an end. I looked up just as the turians were leaving.

And Nadyr was crumpled on the ground with blood soaking through the fabric of the hospital gown.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I DON'T OWN MASS EFFECT, JUST MY OWN CHARS!**

**Yay! Chapter two is done! Thanks so much to Chopped Bread for his his awesome input and help!**

**Again, please R&R! Any help would be awesome!**

CHAPTER TWO

"Nad. . ." My throat siezed up on me and sent me coughing all over again. _I've gotta calm down. He's hurt. He needs me._ Mentally pulling myself together, I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath through my nose and exhale through my mouth. Probably my sloppiest attempts at meditative breathing to date, but it still worked.

With my breathing at least partially under control, I managed to stumble over to where Nadyr lay prone. The bleeding wasn't as serious as I'd thought. Either that or the bandage was a very good one. "Nadyr? Are..." I coughed, softened my voice a bit more until it was just sandpaper and not steel wool. "Are you okay?" _Stupid question. Stupid question._

A grunt answered my question. Just a grunt. Nothing more, but it was enough. Carefully he eased himself up, waving aside my attempts at helping him. Both sets of eyelids blinked rapidly. Like he couldn't focus enough. Had he been hit more than once? Eventually those all-engulfing eyes focused one me. Making it hard to even think about turning away. A frown creased his usually stoic brow. His free hand started reached towards my head but paused. "Rebecca, you are bleeding."

My fingers flew to the dull ache on the side of my head that was only now starting to grow. I only had to brush the center of it to make it sharpen into a knife stabbing into my brain. I sucked in my breath and brought my fingers back into view. The tips were covered in a faint sheen of red. "Oh." I shrugged, making a face and driving the pain into the small little box in the back of my mind. "It's probably a slight bump and a tiny cut. Head cuts bleed like a stuck pig. You, on the other hand...more stiches at the very least, I think."

"I fail to see what..." Nadyr paused. He stared at me for several more seconds. Then a side of his mouth curved into the smallest of smiles. "Ah. Another one of your human idioms." His fingers tugged gently on my hair, the golden, tangled threads a stark contrast to his nearly-black scales.

The door whoosed open. I whirled around, biotics flaring into a shield-like barrier between us and whoever was there. "What the h***, Becky! Put that c*** away before you hurt someone." Kalia yelped, stumbling back into the wall.

As quickly as it had come, the adrenaline drained out of my system in a rush that left me light-headed. "Well, don't scare me like that," I retorted. My biotics cooled down with a sound like the dying sizzle of a shield.

"I wouldn't have scared you if you'd have been gone already!" Kalia snorted and shook her head. "C-Sec will be here any minute. Do you _want_ to get thrown in jail? And what the h*** have you done to my patient?"

Nadyr's face morphed into his usual stoic mask. I missed the smile at once. He didn't do it enough. "It was not Rebecca's fault, Kalia. You should not have confronted them. We have already placed you in enough danger."

With a roll of her eyes, Kalia came over and extended a hand. "I put myself in danger, thank you very much. Come on. I can patch you up before the cops get here, then I want you gone." As raw as she made herself to seem, she was one of the best doctors in the Wards.

I thought Nadyr would take her hand, but he grasped mine instead. He didn't have to tell me what he needed. I'd been waiting for him. Ignoring the spiking pain in my head, I adjusted myself on the balls of my feet so I wouldn't go off balance. The grunt that escaped his lips as he leaned forward gave away how much pain he was in. I bit my lip, snaking my arm around his back and draping his arm over my shoulders. The easiest way to help him up that I could think of.

He rested against me almost completely as we worked him to his feet. It did nothing to ease the knot of worry that still lived inside my gut. A soft gust of a sigh escaped him when he finally perched on the edge of the gurney. "Tend to Rebecca first. Then you may tend to my injuries." He lowered his arm, but he let it trail slowly down my back. Not too obvious so Kalia would notice. His eyes fixed on mine and there was no room for argument there.

I glared at him, but didn't mean it. I should've known he'd try and get a small cut like min fixed up before his own, much worse injury. "It's just a scratch. Nothing serious." And I had one heck of a headache, but that was one detail I didn't need to mention.

"Rebecca." There. That tone that I couldn't resist, _ever_. He knew I couldn't resist when he used _that_ part of his sub-vocals. My Achillies heel and he didn't hesitate to use it. Narrowing is eyes made it even more difficult to resist him.

Taking advantage of my hesitation, Kalia was dressing my head before I could stop her. "You're wasting time being so stubborn, girl. Just don't move for a second. Even though she's right," she added with a quick jab of her finger in Nadyr's direction. "It's just a scratch and a bump. Nothing this bit of medi-gel won't take care of."

I flinched as the asari's finger brushed the injury, but the medi-gel was cool and the pain was nearly gone in seconds. Meeting Nadyr's stare again, I raised an eyebrow. "There, happy?"

It took a few seconds for Nadyr to nod. Faint traces of worry eased up around his mouth and eyes. So he _had _been worried. They flicked towards a duffel hidden beneath a chair in the back corner. Even bedridden, he didn't miss a thing.

"Now shoo, Becky. Give me some room to help this idiot you have."

By the time I'd pulled out the duffel and made sure each piece was accounted for, Kalia had added fresh stitches and another thick layer of bandages. Probably had another several layers of medi-gel and painkillers too among other things to keep Nadyr going. The look on the asari's violet face was less than pleased. "I hope you're not planning on running around with this. That poison left your whole system weak, not just in the local area. My concience tells me not to let you take one step out that door until you can promise that you'll take it easy." One of her hands rested on his shoulder.

It took an effort for me not to react. My hands clenched the leather-like material. The asari had never made her attraction to Nadyr a secret, even though Nadyr had said he wasn't interested. Her persistence gave me a whole new way to define annoying. A little over protective of me, perhaps, but I couldn't help myself.

"No need to worry, Kalia. I doubt Rebecca will even let me carry anything once we leave." His tone remained as cool and reserved as ever. "Now you should go before C-Sec sees you with us. Thank you."

Once the asari left, I brought over his things. "You're right," I grumbled with a smile. "Your clothes are the heaviest things I'm going to let..."

Before I could say anything else, Nadyr gripped my wrist and pulled me to him. Into such a tight embrace that, for a moment, I forgot to breathe. Swallowing a sudden rush of emotion, I wrapped my arms around him. It had been a long time since he'd shown such emotion to me outside of home. Heck yes I was going to take advantage of it. A breath of relief rushed out of me as I pressed my face to his shoulder. The spicy-sweet scent of his skin surrounded me.

His hand reached up and brushed my head, avoiding the scratch. "For a moment, I thought you were lost to me, _siha_." The admission came with a shudder that made him hold onto me all the tighter. "Never frighten me like that again, do you understand?"

With a weak laugh, I nodded into his neck. "I'll do my best, I promise." As loathe as I was to break the contact, I could feel C-Sec closing in on us like they were breathing on my neck. "Come on. Let's get out of here and then you can berate me as much as you want, okay?" No doubt he could hear the slight waver I tried to keep out of my voice. I'd never been able to hide my thoughts from him. Not when he could read my voice so easily.

A soft chuckle was his only answer.

~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~

"C-Sec! Open up!" Fists of thunder pounded on the front door.

I let out a breath as the back door closed behind us. Too close. Even though I knew that Nadyr couldn't move very fast, his training kept nagging at the back of my mind. We had to get home before any of the authorities saw us. Not an easy task. The clinic was half a district over from our place for a reason.

I took a moment to draw a map back home in my mind. Some way that Nadyr wouldn't draw attention with his injury. Though in the Wards, someone walking with a stitched up wound wasn't as uncommon a sight as if we were in the Presidium. With a tentative route lit up in my head like a flashing path of light, I turned back to where Nadyr leaned against the wall. His stoic mask was on, but there was the smallest paling of his skin. The thinning of his lips. Painkillers and medi-gel were only doing so much.

Nadyr met my gaze and shook his head. All right then. No fussing until we were safe in our own four walls.

"Come on," I sighed. "Let's get your stubborn butt where it belongs." Taking his arm, I draped it over my shoulders before he could protest. The least I could do for him.

Neither of us said another word as we made our way through numerous back alleys and side didn't stop my head from spinning with a thousand and ten questions. The turian who'd almost killed me had been called Arterius. Both he and the other turian were Specters. As far as I knew, the only silver turian who was a Specter and named Arterius was... My eyebrows rose to my hairline. _Saren_ Arterius? How in the world did Nadyr know him? My feelings about our situation grew even darker. We were in deep trouble, no matter what Nadyr said to discourage it.

Lost in thought, I hadn't realized that we'd turned down the final street until the familiar Fornax commercial echoed between the not-so-clean buildings. Blinking myself out of my daze, I stopped us in front of our door, keying in the code to the crusty panel. Nadyr was silent, leaning against me even more than when we'd left the clinic. Just the slightest motion caused a grunt or a sharp inhale of breath. I frowned. Almost kicked the door as it squealed open.

Though the inside of our place was lit only by the glow of the lights outside, I led Nadyr to the small couch and all but pushed him down. "Don't get up, I mean it." I shook my finger at him, but I didn't need to. He just nodded and carefully leaned back, a wince flying across his face before he could help himself.

I set my jaw and tossed the duffel into a corner, ignoring the clunk of my pistol. That would've earned me an instant lecture if it had been a normal day. I kept the kitchen light on low and rifled through the fridge for what I needed. Without looking I pulled out the odds and ends and mixed two drinks. One a cold version of some drell tea I couldn't pronounce, another just a simple glass of apple juice with a pinch of cinnamon thrown in. I knew I needed the menal pick-up. Nadyr, too, but he wouldn't say anything. That wasn't his way.

He barely stirred when I sat next to him. Just opened his eyes a fraction. He saw the drink in my hand. His lips twitched in what failed to be a smile. A familiar, but tense silence fell between us as he took the glass. Gentle fingers brushed against mine in the smallest of his affectionate gestures. Minutes passed as we nursed our drinks. I didn't push him for an explanation. He probably knew what I wanted to ask already. I rarely needed to ask for an explanation.

After a time, he sighed. A long, drawn-out sound that brought tired lines around his eyes that hadn't been there before. He looked decades older. Nadyr leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he set the glass on the table with a thunk. "I always hoped that you would never have to meet Saren Arterius. He is not the kind of man I want you dealing with. But," he added, raising a hand to stop me from protesting. "What I want is negligable. Now that he has seen your face, he will be gathering every scrap of information on you that he can find. Given his Specter status, I have no misconceptions about him learning everything about you within the next few days. He is...relentless." A ghost danced over his face.

The dread I'd been holding at bay rose with a vengance. I rested a hand on his knee. "What is it, Nadyr? He's a Specter, so what? I can handle him if he finds me." My mind raced over everything a Specter could learn about me with just a casual search. The list became a lot longer than I was comfortable with.

Nadyr growled in the back of his throat. A protective sound that gave me the shivers inside. "No, _Siha_. Absolutely not." The tone behind his words was clipped and forceful as he took both my hand in his own. Their grip was almost painful, his eyes gluing me in place. "Trust me on this, _Siha_. Saren Arterius...he is intelligent and ruthless and..." Nadyr stopped, his insistant growl catching and forcing him to clear his throat. A hand cupped my face, his thumb brushing my cheeck. "No, Rebecca. You should leave the Citadel. Erase any trace of your wherabouts that you can. He must never find you."

"You mean run away?" I pulled back from him, a frown pinching my forehead. That didn't sound like the Nadyr I knew at all.

"That is not what I said, _Siha_. I was caught off guard today. Your identity is not protected against resources such as Saren's. I must keep you from him as long as possible."

"No, _we_ need to keep _ourselves_ from him." I retorted, the frown turning into a glare. "Nadyr, you're still injured. If Saren's as big of a danger as you say, then you'd stand as much of a chance against him as you think I have. Which, according to you, is none at all. I refuse to leave you here with a guy who wants to get you killed."

"Rebecca, I..."

I placed my fingers on his lips. They made him go so still, he could've been turned into a life-size statue. "Hush. You said it before: we're a team. We stick together. He'll have more trouble if we give him more than one person to deal with." Although I had no idea why Saren was after my Nadyr in the first place, I held back my myriad of questions. "You can say whatever you like, but I'm not going anywhere because I love you."

In the brief silence, Nadyr's breath was the only sound. That only lasted for a few seconds, though. A rumble similar to a purr worked its way into my hearing range. It throbbed against my chest, working its way under my skin, raising goosebumps, stealing my breath away. Very slowly, a hand slid to my back and pulled me closer the other moving my hand from his lips. Before I could breathe again, his lips took mine in a kiss that was more passionate than anything he'd ever given me. "_Siha_." He breathed against my lips, purr growing with intensity. Saying more with just one word than a whole string of sentences ever could.

More than a little breathless, I reclosed the fraction of a distance between us, enjoying the feel of his lips on mine. All thought stuttered to a halt. I couldn't feel the couch or hear the muffled noise from outside. My entire world had shrunk down to just the two of us...Until his Omni-tool bleeped at him.

Nadyr growled deep in his chest. For a few seconds, he didn't pull away, but when the annoying gadget bleeped again, he sighed and drew back. "Of all the times..." Pressing his forehead to mine, he gave me one more gentle kiss before straightening. "Forgive me, _Siha_, but this is important. I should have left a playback telling them to leave a message."

I tried not to feel dissapointed, but only succeeded half-way. His many informants made it almost impossible to get a single evening all to ourselves. If his work hadn't meant so much to him, I would've made an issue out of it. Instead I just gave his hand a squeeze. "I'll be packing. I won't snoop, I promise."

Once inside the small bedroom, I wasted no time in self-pity, though my lips still throbbed and my skin still felt on fire. Odd colors flashed in front of my eyes as I pulled out the few changes of clothes we owned. _Stupid halucinatory side-effect. _I blinked it away as best I could. I was in love with a drell. Mild hallucinations after kissing him were a part of daily life. Clothes were easily stowed in our two bags. Nadyr never traveled around with much for professional reasons. I just picked up the habit, or was trying to. Never before had I appreciated how much stuff a girl needed just to get by.

Most of our things were packed when I heard a shuffle behind me. I grinned, holding up a beaded headband without turning around. "Found it! Fell behind the dresser again. Along with another of those arm-sheathes of yours. Honestly, you loose them faster than I can buy them." I heard him come to a stop behind me, his body heat washing over my back. He said nothing, which made me blush. "What? Do I really look tha bad from..."

"Forgive me, _Siha_."

My instincts screamed at me, but I couldn't turn fast enough. A hand clamped down on my shoulder and spun me around. Half a breath between that and a fierce spike of agony burst in my abdomen. I held on to his shoulder. Looked down in confusion at one of his hidden blades piercing me. My blood seeping through the cream fabric of my shirt.

His blade. His hand. My blood.

I couldn't put all three together as the world roared around me. I fought to take a breath. It was an effort. An even greater one to lift my head again. Meet those eyes that I'd trusted for six years. See the face that held no hint of remorse. "Nad...Nadyr, what..."

Blackness threatened to overwhelm me as he pulled me to him, driving the blade even deeper. A white-hot, jagged spear that pierced my soul as well. My legs buckled beneath me. I couldn't feel anything, but I was on the floor with Nadyr kneeling above me.

I felt Nadyr's lips caress mine and then the blackness overwhelmed me.

**A/N: And as Chopped Bread so eloquently put it, "smoochie smoochie die!"**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own ME, just my storyline and OCs!**

**Fist off, a really big, humungous thank you to Chopped Bread for his patience and extremely helpful Beta-reading! I think this is version . . . four? Lol. Anyway, I suggest you all go read his story "Thomas Was Alone." It's really good and he deserves it!**

**As always, I'd love to have your opinions and critiques. Love 'em! Thanks for taking the time to read!**

**Oh, and I can't take full credit for the new character at the end of this chapter. Part of it was Bread's idea, anyway. :D**

CHAPTER THREE

_Lavender petals drifted through the air like snowflakes. They fell on my head, becoming a crown in the seconds between gusts. Each time the cherry-scented wind blew, they scattered into miniature clouds around me. Sunshine danced across the surface of the rippling pond, transforming the petals into glowing fragments of light that swirled as they were captured by eddies that whirled to life then vanished before returning again. _

_I smiled. Central Park, Earth. My first real date and my first time on the planet. Nadyr had . . .._

_Clouds bloomed on the horizon. A dark, roiling knot that soured the memory._

_Clouds? There hadn't been any clouds when we'd gone on the picnic. Why. . ._

_"Siha." His voice breathed from the chaos of petals next to me. They swirled and grew into a twisting column around my height. Light grew inside it, forcing me to squint until it passed. Nadyr stood in its place, hands clasped behind his back and a smile on his lips._

_The clouds on the horizon grew and thunder pealed overhead. It pounded against my head. I needed to . . . remember. Certainty grew inside me. Yes. I had to remember. But remember what? Couldn't I just enjoy the memory while it lasted?_

_"There you are. I wondered where you'd disappeared to." My smile, while real, didn't come out as large as I had intended. How could I be remembering this wrong? I never got the details of the date wrong._

_Silence made me re-focus on Nadyr. Light danced over the black scales of his chest. An arousing touch, but I definitely knew he'd worn a shirt on Earth. A burst of freezing wind caused me to stumble back. Tears stung my eyes like a swarm of bees and I lifted my hand to shield them. "Nadyr? What's going on?"_

_The wind rushed through him like he didn't exist. Every petal at his feet lay undisturbed. "Siha. I knew you would return to this memory if you were ever injured or wounded. Before you ask, no, this is not . . . how did you put it . . . a 'Jedi mind trick?'" Both corners of his mouth lifted in that smile that always made me breathless. "To put it simply; this is a hybrid of memory, your subconscious, and what you would call hypnosis. Do not worry. This was your idea, though you do not remember it."_

_"My what?" As I focused on him, the clouds faded, shrinking a fraction of their size. "How can I not remember this. . .. Wait, this . . . this isn't real, is it?" Fear of hearing an answer drowned my voice into a whisper. An invisible hand squeezed around my heart. Almost choking me, becoming a sharp, gnawing pain in my chest._

_Nadyr's . . . spirit . . . didn't react. Just stared at me like the world around us didn't matter. "By now, you may have already guessed that what you see is an illusion. A safe haven for your mind when your body has suffered a trauma. You are an excellent student, with a mind unlike any human I have encountered before. Then again . . .." He actually took a step towards me, hand reaching out as if to touch my face. "You are unlike any human I have ever met."_

_Thousands of needles stung at my eyes, and not just from the wind. "I told you to quit saying that," I breathed, my words tangling up in my throat. "Makes me self-conscious."_

_"If you are seeing me now, it means that . . . that . . .." For the first time I could remember, Nadyr couldn't finish his sentence. The hand that reached for me withdrew and ran across his face. When he managed to speak again, his sub-vocals carried so much guilt that I nearly rushed over to embrace him. "That I was unsuccessful in sparing you. I . . . I do not have as much time with this message as I would like. Suffice it to say that I have failed to protect you from myself."_

_Then his eyes focused on me. Completely on me. Though his eyes were two voids, I always could tell when he looked at me. "I know you will try to rationalize what I have done to you. To think the best of me when I do not deserve it. Do not look for me, Siha. Do not try to go home. Everything you need to move on will be waiting for you. Please . . . please try to forget about me." A thin river of tears cascaded down his cheeks._

_I blinked, a fresh breeze cooling the hot tears on my face. "Why, Nadyr?" I reached up to touch his face. My hand passed right through him. "I'm . . . I'm dead, aren't I?" What was I doing, talking to an illusion? He couldn't hear . . .._

_"Do you want to be?"_

_"What?" I jerked my hand back as my voice squeaked. How could he have heard me? "No, you're just an . . . an answering machine. You can't hear me. It's impossible."_

_"I said," Nadyr chuckled, his whole posture relaxing. "Do you want to be?"_

_For the briefest moment, I had to wrestle for an answer. If I decided to live, I'd be waking up by myself. Nadyr would only be in my head. Not next to me as he had been for the last six years. Why would I want to wake up like that?_

_But that lasted only for a couple of breaths. No. I owed it to Nadyr to live, wake up, whatever. Even if that meant disobeying this version of him. Taking a breath, I managed a nod. My voice wouldn't work. Not with him staring at me._

_Nadyr's mouth curled into a smile. "Then wake . . .."_

". . . up! It's her amps, they're making her metabolism eat through the sedatives faster than we can get them in her!"

"Then give twice the recommended dosage."

"We've done that already, Doctor!"

"Three times, then, and monitor her vitals closely. I would rather risk an overdose that we can treat than have her feel anything right now."

Sedatives. No, I didn't want sedatives. I didn't think I'd be able to face Nadyr again. I had to tell them that. Peeling my eyes open just a fraction, I found at least four blurs of shadow hovering over me. My throat moved to speak, but nothing worked. The action caused muscles to contract on something shoved down my throat and my horrible gag reflex threatened to choke me.

"Now, if you please!" The closest blur moved closer to my head. A hand rested on my forehead, forcing it down. "Miss, it would be best for you to calm down and let the sedatives take effect. You are in no condition to do anything."

Calm down? No, I couldn't calm down. I had to get out of there. Had to find out . . . find out . . . find . . .. It was too much work. My limbs were too heavy. So were my eyelids. They started drifting shut.

"Good. Just sleep now. When you wake up again . . .."

Blackness overcame me again before I could hear the rest of his sentence.

~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~

When I woke up again, I woke up completely. No sedatives remained in my system to make me groggy thanks to hyper-active amps. My eyes shot open, fear ramping my heart into overdrive. No, not fear, I told myself. Caution, perhaps, but I wasn't afraid. Not yet. I didn't have time to be afraid.

The ceiling above me had the same sterile-white quality as the room where Nadyr had been kept. _Hospitals. What is it with me and hospitals? We always seem to run into each other. Not cool._ Taking a deep breath, I lifted my head. Time to see the damage.

The door hissed open. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you." A mechanical burr to the voice made me look up. A drell nurse stood just inside with her arms crossed. Her emerald scales came out a bit flat in the hospital lights. "Not unless you enjoy being sedated for hours on end."

A drell. I'd frozen at the familiar dual-toned quality of the voice. Different cadence than Nadyr's, of course, but a drell's voice nonetheless. A knot twisted in my throat and my heart. Tears threatened to escape from bleary eyes. I swallowed past the knot with an effort. I couldn't let the nurse see me cry. If I started, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop. "Can . . . can I at least sit up? I don't like being on my back if I don't have to." My voice came out surprisingly steady. Thank heavens for Nadyr and his endless training.

The nurse smiled. A wider smile than any I'd seen on a drell before. "I suppose I can live with that. As long as you promise to stay put until this evening. You should be recovered enough by then." It took only a few strides to bring her to my side and she helped me into a sitting position. "You're very lucky that you didn't bleed out before you were brought here. We don't see very many wounds like yours on this side of the Wards. Omni-blade, yes, but there are so few swords in use."

Wincing at a sharp twinge of pain, I tried to decide what to answer her with. "So . . . this is the Presidium?" It wasn't luck that kept me from bleeding out, but skill. With his abilities, Nadyr would know how to . . . hurt me without killing me outright. I felt a sick wrench in my gut that didn't come from the surgery.

"Huerta Memorial, yes." The nurse might have heard something in my voice because she lost her cheerful attitude. "A bag of your things was left here last night. I'm sorry, but I needed to go through them to find out what your name was or if there was anyone we could contact." A hand dipped into one of her pockets and came up clenched around something. She took one of my hands and dropped something cold and metallic in my palm. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry." She blinked then left.

It took me a while to scrounge up the courage to open my hand. Fear and dread at what I would find were twin coils in my chest and gut. _Come on, girl. Get a hold of yourself._ Taking a breath, I forced my hand open one finger at a time. I instantly regretted it.

Nadyr's ring.

I knew it was his. The one he always wore. The one I'd given him . . . and the one he'd sworn to never take off.

He'd left me. For real. If he was still alive, which I knew he was, effectively broken up with me. Not like the temporary I-might-be-interested-in-the-future break up like in the movies, but the permanent I-never-wanted-to-see-you-again-in-this-lifetime break up.

I began doubting my decision to live. Death would be more kind than having to lie every day without him.

~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~

Despite my promise, once noon had come and gone, the itch to be up and out of such a public building drove me to my feet. My injury ached horribly as I eased to my feet. Most people would've followed the nurse's advice and stayed put until the medicines fixed most of it. Fake Nadyr had been right; I was a good student, learning to overcome pain and other survival techniques. I could handle it as long as I got out of there.

A duffel sat on a chair by the window. The same one I'd stored Nadyr's things in. Talk about irony. Gritting my teeth, I shuffled around the bed, gripping the edges for support. Pain lanced at me with every movement, but I could manage. I had to. Inside the duffel lay a couple changes of clothes. Not one I remembered buying, though. Simple sweats and loose-fitting t-shirts. A pair of sneakers. No logos or symbols for someone to remember if they saw me.

Nadyr. Again. I could read the message as clearly as if he'd written one for me. I had to disappear. Become anonymous. That meant a new name, new history, new . . . new everything. My hand convulsed around the ring I still held. The storm of emotions inside me stilled into a calm filled with purpose. No, I didn't give up that easily. Nadyr had to have a reason for hurting me. Once I found him, made him explain, we could work things out. Make everything like it used to be.

A rap on the door made me turn around halfway into pulling my shirt on. I glanced over my shoulder and scowled. Why couldn't the nurse just leave me alone? The woman glared right back at me. She didn't look like she planned on moving anytime soon. I sighed, wincing as I pulled my shirt down over the bandage. I couldn't stop her, but I wouldn't let her stop me from leaving.

"I wouldn't leave, Miss. C-Sec will have some questions for you," she warned when she finally came in.

I froze. "You called C-Sec?" Alarm raced through my head. I couldn't let C-Sec figure out who'd "attacked" me. They'd kill Nadyr on sight. That could never happen. "Why?"

If a drell could raise an eyebrow, the woman would have, judging by the tilt of her head. "Someone attacked you, girl. It's mandatory to contact C-Sec when something like this happens. I'd think you'd want to report this." Suspicion tinged her voice, both in the range I could hear and the buzz underneath her words.

"Oh . . . uh . . . right. I just . . . okay." My breath caught in my throat every so often. I didn't know anything about Huerta Memorial. Where the exits were. If a back door even existed. There had to be one somewhere. Having just one door didn't make any sense. "Um . . . when are they getting here?"

"They just checked in at the front desk. I told them to wait while I made you presentable."

The front . . .. "Okay, just . . . give me a few more minutes?" My flash of a smile felt strained to its breaking point. The woman might be able to hear something in my voice that I didn't mean to put in there, or she might just assume my nerves might be associated with talking to police. "Just so I can get decent, anyway."

She smiled and nodded. "Five minutes. Then I'm bringing them back here."

As soon as I was alone, I yanked on my sneakers in record time, shoving the pain of doing so into the back of my mind. I had to get out of there. Pressing my face to the window, I glanced downwards. Didn't seem like too far of a drop. I hadn't practiced biotic falls in a while, but twenty feet or so wouldn't be a problem. I hoped. Slinging the duffel's strap over my shoulders, I backed up to the other side of the room. The wall pressing against my back. Biotics flared along my arm. "Sorry," I muttered and sent a ball of energy towards the window. It shattered, the shards exploding outwards in a blizzard of glittering shards. I followed them towards the edge . . . and jumped.

With the plaza below me, I closed my eyes, scrounging up my power and allowing it to slow my descent. For a moment, it felt like I was flying. Completely free of the real world. That lasted for only a moment, though. All too soon I had to add more power to my biotics and land on the ground with both feet braced wide apart. Even then, there was a serious jolt and I hunched over with a grunt as a certain part of my gut complained.

A few onlookers yelped and scurried away, either from me or the broken glass, I didn't know or care. _Presidium residents are wimps, anyway._

"There she is! Stop her!" The shout from above made me turn around. Not only had the nurse run to the broken window, but at least a few C-Sec officers in blue filled the rest of the space. They were only two levels up and the pair of turians I could make out could make the jump easier than any human. Curse turians and their long legs.

I spun around as said turians jumped out the window and onto a nearby ledge. They could make it if they took their time and in stages. No doubt the rest would be racing out the front door to cut me off or something like that. Time to see if I really could run through pain.

I'd barely made it to the other side of the plaza when someone grabbed my arm. Instinct and countless hours of training had me grabbing the wrist and turning the arm so I could push the person into the wall. I felt the too-small size of the wrist and the odd placing of the bones. Not human. A second after that I registered the face in front of me. Or rather, the lack of a face. Whoever had grabbed me wore a helmet. Not C-Sec, at least, so I didn't have to deal with them.

"Wait, wait!" The high-pitched . . . squawk . . . that erupted from the helmet filled in what my eyes were already telling me. A salarian. "You're the one C-Sec's chasing, yes? The one that ruined that window?"

"Uh . . . yeah?" I glanced behind me. Only a few more seconds before I had no choice but to run again. "Look, talking to me isn't gonna be good for you and it'll get the both of us arrested."

"I know, I know." The salarian's head bobbed like it would fall off any second. "I have a car just around the corner. Don't want C-Sec to catch me, either. Our goals similar. Care to join me or let those clumsy turians catch us?"

I hesitated. Nadyr had told me to always treat sudden offers of help with suspicion. What did the salarian want out of it? Why did he wear armor on the Citadel? Could he be military? I shook my head to clear it of questions. For now, the salarian had my way out. I could defend myself if he stabbed me in the back later.

"Fine. Let's get out of here."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So here it is! The long awaited chapter four! Another thanks to Chopped Bread for the help! :) Hope I didn't keep you in too much suspense!**

**I don't own ME. **

CHAPTER FOUR

"So, human biotic jumps out of Huerta Memorial with C-Sec giving chase. Interesting. Very interesting."

I grunted. The Presidium zipped by in a white-and-green blur. My "alarm bells" hadn't clamored in the back of my head for a while. I almost wished C-Sec would send their entire force after us. It would give me something to think about besides . . . about your driver, Becky. Don't lose it now.

"Might be enough to make it into the news tonight. Not something you want, I imagine. Perhaps a place to wait and see?"

"No. Take me to the Wards and I'll be on my way." I had to be alone. Had to . . . think, meditate, plan. Somehow restore my sanity. If I hadn't gone insane already. In no sane world would the man I love try and kill me then shun me for the rest of his life. "You've done enough."

"Nonsense." Huffed the salarian. "You're injured and that display of biotics would have drawn attention. Do you really want to be out on your own when C-Sec releases your name and . . .."

"I can take care of myself," I bit off the ends of each word. Truth be told, a part of me wouldn't have minded being caught by C-Sec. At least then I'd some some answers. There's no guarantee that they'd do anything. Probably sit on their collective tailbones and do absolutely nothing.

The salarian shook his head. "Perhaps, but I insist. I have a couple of friends who help other people in the same . . . situation you find yourself in. Have a small hideout in a warehouse on the far end of the Presidium, almost in the Wards. Plenty of supplies to spare." He slowed the car to accommodate for traffic, but that didn't hide the slow descent of quality to the buildings. Towards the Wards. "Won't ask you any questions beyond polite conversation. Well, Krieg might ask how you were injured, but that's just his personality. No tact, that fellow."

_"Listen, Siha. Accept help where you can find it, but do not trust."_ One of Nadyr's lessons murmured in my ear as fresh as the day it had been given. My skin prickled, but not as badly as my eyes. I blinked until I could see clearly. Swallowed the thick knot in my throat. No, he wouldn't see me lose it.

After a few more long, agonizing moments of debate, I sighed and nodded. "Fine, but only for a day or two. I'm not staying put any longer than that." I turned my head to stare at the darkened mask. So hard to tell what went on inside the salarian's head when I couldn't see his eyes. My instincts were the only things helping me out and I didn't trust them anymore.

The salarian nodded. A slow, heavy motion that belied the species' natural hypertension. "Understood. We're almost there."

A boisterous holler greeted us as soon as the salarian pulled the car into a well-used warehouse. "Jiri! What took you so long? You even had Toren worried, though the pyjak wouldn't admit to it." The deep rasp of a bellow preceded the owner, a krogan.

Jiri? Finally I had a name to my would-be rescuer. I watched the salarian as I stepped out of the car, though I kept the krogan at the edges of my vision. As unfamiliar with salarian physiology as I was, I noticed the easing of tension along the shoulders as he leaned against the car hood. The krogan seemed calm, but I hadn't had the chance to deal with krogan personally, so I didn't put much stock in that observation.

"Please, I can handle myself. C-Sec was too busy chasing her to look for me." The salarian gestured my way before removing his helmet at last.

No . . . I corrected, eyebrows rising in spite of myself. Not his . . . her helmet. Wait, a _female_ salarian? A frown snapped my brows together as I ran the face of the salarian in front of me against others. Brown and cream-skinned variety, smaller horns, "softer" features. All the small details from our flight over began clicking into place. Her voice had never been as . . . salarian . . . as I expected, but with everything that had happened, it didn't surprise me that I'd missed the different speech patterns.

Jiri blinked at me, a frown crinkling the corners of her eyes, daring me to comment. I shrugged, hoisting the duffel over my shoulder. After I rested, had a chance to reorient myself, I'd be curious. For now, whatever brought her so far from Sur'Kesh could wait.

The krogan scowled, black eyes studying me. If a krogan could be called skinny, then this guy fit the bill. With a hump at least a size smaller than the average krogan, less brawny muscles in his arms and less mass all around, he didn't come across as imposing. Well, I amended with a lift of one shoulder, if he wore armor instead of the red and white uniform, that would help his image by several degrees.

Eventually, after a long staring contest in which neither of us moved, he sniffed. "C-Sec? Chasing this scrawny thing? What've you done to rile them up?" His grunt carried over the hum of outdated lighting.

I couldn't be sure, but I could've sworn I heard pity in his words. I stiffened, eyes narrowing as I took a step closer. "I take it you're Kreig?" At his quick nod, I took another step, ignoring the hand that drifted to the sidearm strapped to his leg. "What C-Sec wants with me is my business, understand? I only came here because C-Sec is no doubt crawling over my apartment by now, and because Jiri invited me."

"And I insist that you let him take a look at your injuries in case your . . . adventure ruined the doctors' work." Jiri strode between us, smacking the krogan on the shoulder. "Be nice, and give her something to eat. Doubt she's had anything to compensate for the drain on her system caused by the implant."

For a moment, I opened my mouth, prepared to reiterate my ability to be self-sufficient. The woman couldn't just assume to know what I needed. I didn't need anything, just a place to rest.

A stray, musty breeze huffed in my face.

"Another biotic? You'll want to keep that from Toren when he gets back," Kreig chuckled, waving me over. "More than likely he'd want to see who's the strongest. Stubborn as a krogan, he is. Come on, let's take a look. Won't do nothin' you don't want me to."

So the other member of their group was a biotic as well. Just lovely. A phantom knife stabbed at my injury, demanding that I take the krogan up on his offer. Better to be healed and rested than risk any serious complications when in trouble. I sighed, nodding in reluctance. I had no idea what they'd get out of helping me . . . or any others, for that matter . . . but if it meant a free place to lay low for a few days, the risk didn't concern me overmuch.

Despite being a krogan, Kreig knew a good deal about human anatomy. His examination only lasted a few minutes, the only comment he made being to ask about what weapon had caused the injury. Very professional and impressive, though I said nothing. He hadn't earned that much trust yet. Afterwards, he showed me to an area with half a dozen cots, each containing a small pile of blankets topped with a pillow. Neat and orderly.

"Feel free to rest if you like. Food's next door through the hallway when you're hungry. If you see a cranky turian go by, don't worry. That's Toren. He has an issue with every newcomer. Nothing personal." His grin, though it would seem menacing to other species, came across as genuine with none of the expected krogan chest-pounding behind it.

With the numbing effect of medi-gel driving the pain out of my mind, I felt the need to meditate more than ever. Not sleep, though. My mind couldn't calm down enough for that. I nodded at the krogan, taking a mental note of the red-and-white suit he wore as well as the dark blue color of his head-plate. There were some other details in there, too, of course, but they just slid into my subconscious to be processed later.

Kreig grunted and stomped off, muttering under his breath, leaving me alone at last.

Choosing the cot in the farthest corner, I settled myself on it cross-legged. It creaked, making me wince. Any excess noise would jar me out of meditation. Increased awareness of my surroundings happened to be one of the better benefits of being trained by a drell. I began to slow my breathing, setting my hands on my knees, letting my thoughts cycle to a stop. I'd never been able to describe how I managed to meditate, it just happened. My heart slowed down, the world around me faded to nothing. Just me and the silence. Eventually I started pulling myself back together.

That lasted only for so long.

_"Siha." The word flowed over me like a sigh, caressing me just as his arms had done once. Ridicule drove any warmth from the word, however._

_I shivered, tears biting my eyes, fighting to be released. "Why, Nadyr?" I pleaded, my lips barely moving as my mind answered the ghost. "What did I do wrong? How could you . . . how could you do this to me?"_

_Phantom lips brushed my ear, his breath warm and thick with cinnamon. "You know why, Siha. You refuse to admit it in your attempt to see me as a better man than I am." His voice came from in front of me now. Close like he'd always been when we had meditated together. The rumble in his subvocals came through so clearly, I could almost feel them against my chest._

_"No, I don't know why," I almost snapped, a tear escaping to trickle its way down my skin. "You'd never hurt me. You never have. I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose."_

_"Are you so sure of that, Siha?" Nadyr growled. A dangerous one that sent talons of fear scraping up my back. "I never made you that promise. Not once."_

_"But . . .."_

"Please tell me you're not going to be crying all night. We need our sleep, too, you know."

The very real growl snapped me out of meditation. My eyes flew open, angling towards the direction of the intruder. A turian returned my stare with a glare of his own. I took in his features quickly: black plates, light-grey skin on his neck and around . . .. His eyes. They caught mine with their intensity. One green, one black. Something else about him raised the hairs on the back of my neck, but I couldn't place it. It couldn't be his armor; the gray-and-gold set had been so worn down and patched over that I figured he had to have bought it somewhere for it to be in such condition. Or he wore it for undercover work, though what that would be escaped me for the moment.

Taking a shaky breath, I wiped the cold trails of tears off of my cheeks, but didn't stand up. "I believe you're Toren, then? Kreig said you have . . . issues with new people. Don't worry. I plan on being quiet for as long as I'm here, which won't be more than a couple of days." Now that I felt in control of my mind again, at least partially, my stomach began twisting itself into knots. I couldn't hold back my hunger any more. Pulling out the duffel, I rummaged. Perhaps Nadyr would've known I'd use biotics somehow.

The turian snorted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his mandibles flare. Or rather, one mandible. The other didn't move far from his jaw. His head turned in a way where I couldn't get a good look at it. "My comment still stands. Are you going to be crying the whole time? Our last . . . guest . . . couldn't stop and hyperventilated. Had to have Kreig sedate them for the rest of the time. We don't babysit."

I couldn't read his growl. So different from a drell's. I raised an eyebrow, my hand closing on a high-density protein bar. My heart both tightened and glowed at the same time. Nadyr had remembered. Quietly, I unwrapped it and took a bite, forcing myself to chew slowly. Bland and chewy, but it had helped counter the increased metabolism before.

"Well? Have a problem answering?"

A small frown pinched the area between my eyes. "I can't promise for when I'm asleep, but you won't have a problem with me. I have some . . . planing I need to do." Grateful that I had a place to stay away from C-Sec, I didn't need any of them toying with the idea of kicking me out. I didn't feel particularly social, anyway.

Toren rumbled for what felt like a minute, leaning against the wall. He didn't need to be a drell for me to understand the vocalisations meant. If he planned on goading me into a fight so he could kick me out, he'd be disappointed. If he'd caught me before I'd meditated and with my biotics at full strength, I might've taken him up on his challenge. Called him on his tough-guy act and give him a run for his money if it came to a biotic fight.

"There you are, Toren!" Jiri's high-pitched, enthusiastic greeting spared us both from further conversation. She poked her head out from around a corner. "Come, leave the girl alone. She's had a long day. Chased by C-Sec, you know, with a recently stitched injury as well, from what Kreig says. You can bother her later."

"Since when are your strays not being chased by C-Sec?" Toren snarled, but he turned and followed the salarian after a final snort my way, bringing the other side of his face into view. Old scars riddled his carapace and his mandible had been broken, only half as long as the other one.

Then the detail about him that bothered me clicked and my head snapped around, interest rising in the little group. A krogan who had enough medical knowledge to be a doctor. A female salarian hiding from C-Sec like me. A turian biotic who bore no facial marks whatsoever.

_Just what have you gotten yourself into?_


End file.
